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What external HD should I get?

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 and plan to buy an external HD. Right now all things are messed up and the whole thing needs operating system reinstallation, but I plan to separate programs in the internal HD, and files in the external HD. I don't know much about hard drives, but was thinking of getting (7200 RPM was it?) 80GB Lacie. However, I noticed, I don't believe my computer has fire wire slot. In case my computer doesn't have fire wire, do all new External Hard drives come with USB cables as well? Thanks.

Sorry I couldn't give you just a a menu page, but mobile and desktop drives don't fall under the same catagory, and I wasn't sure what you wanted. If you go here, you can use the search tool on the side to search for what you have specifically in mind.

As per my own opinion, LaCies are a bit pricey, even at discount prices, you should look around a bit before deciding on a certain brand, as there are many external drive companies to choose from, with many different things to offer. Whatever you buy, make sure you get a good warranty, as external drives have a tendency towards malfunctioning after extended periods of usage.

You should also check to make sure your USB is powered. Newer systems I believe have powered buses as a standard, but if your system is old, it's possible that your bus would not be able to power the harddrive.

-Gorky

Faster than an OC-48 Line! More powerful than an AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 Processor! Able to jump entire forums in a single bound!

"tendency towards malfunctioning"?

Thanks for the info,

"tendency towards malfunctioning" sounds bad! One would want to store data on media that is reliable. The only reason I'll be buying extrnal drive is because I've been told a bunch of times -- for safety reasons -- to keep only the programs on the internal drive and everything else on a separate drive. I could think of buying another internal drive, but it would be too much work for me to install it. Also, I'm not going for the expensive portable ones, yet I want the drive to be Firewire + USB, since I don't believe I have a firewall slot on my PC. I have cable internet connection: is the firewall cable, the same cable like for the cable internet connection?
And, if not Lacie, would you suggest any other ones? Thanks.

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?! - Unknown Author "And there's Bill Gates, the...most...famous...man in the...ah...Microsoft." -- A TV commentator for the 2000 Olympics.

"tendency towards malfunctioning" sounds bad! One would want to store data on media that is reliable. The only reason I'll be buying extrnal drive is because I've been told a bunch of times -- for safety reasons -- to keep only the programs on the internal drive and everything else on a separate drive. I could think of buying another internal drive, but it would be too much work for me to install it. Also, I'm not going for the expensive portable ones, yet I want the drive to be Firewire + USB, since I don't believe I have a firewall slot on my PC. I have cable internet connection: is the firewall cable, the same cable like for the cable internet connection?
And, if not Lacie, would you suggest any other ones? Thanks.

-jms

Your internet connection cable is most likely an ethernet, so it is not the same as a firewire. I'd recommend getting a USB 2.0 device, with or without firewire is up to you. It shouldn't make much of a difference in price. Just think about where else you might use the drive and if those computers have firewire or not. And make sure the USB port is powered, both on the drive and your computer.

I'll look around for some externals as well if you'd like, though you should consider Dave's suggestion.

-Gorky

Faster than an OC-48 Line! More powerful than an AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 Processor! Able to jump entire forums in a single bound!

well yes... but it's only popping off a 5 1/2" bay cover, screwing it in and attaching a power and ide cable...
And from then on it slides out of the bay in the front.
But if you don't like going inside your pc then maybe you're better off with an external.

In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?! - Unknown Author "And there's Bill Gates, the...most...famous...man in the...ah...Microsoft." -- A TV commentator for the 2000 Olympics.

JC,12/7/2004 7:45:03 AM
No doubt, this external is very fast and very nice looking. And I like the idea of a power button; something that my other Maxtor external hard drives do not have (Personal Storage 3000LE and Personal... See complete review>
No doubt, this external is very fast and very nice looking. And I like the idea of a power button; something that my other Maxtor external hard drives do not have (Personal Storage 3000LE and Personal Storage 5000DV). Just an outstanding product.

Sam aka The Wiz,11/12/2004 10:41:19 AM
I bought this as an insurance policy to my mp3 collection. It is the easiest thing in the world to use. The one touch back-up button is as easy as it sounds. Another cool feature is being able to p... See complete review>
I bought this as an insurance policy to my mp3 collection. It is the easiest thing in the world to use. The one touch back-up button is as easy as it sounds. Another cool feature is being able to program it to back-up your system on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

N/A,9/15/2004 1:00:36 PM
I recently purchased this drive, and I'm having a blast. It stores all my mp3's frm my cd collection and all my backed up documents, home movies, mods from games, everything! and i still have more sp... See complete review>
I recently purchased this drive, and I'm having a blast. It stores all my mp3's frm my cd collection and all my backed up documents, home movies, mods from games, everything! and i still have more space to go!

This drive is a beast with 200gb 8mb cache, cant go wrong!

(its also sweet looking, especially on the stands, I also havent used the software that came with the drive)

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In a world without walls and fences - who needs Windows and Gates?! - Unknown Author "And there's Bill Gates, the...most...famous...man in the...ah...Microsoft." -- A TV commentator for the 2000 Olympics.

If the data you have is sensitive and it's very important that you don't lose it- back it up. Don't rely on one moethod of storage because- hard drives go bad. Sooner or later, they're likely to have a problem... usually later. They can last for years without a problem. But if it has you that worried, get a CD burner or a DVD burner and make back-ups for the important data. DVD writeables can hold a lot of information and the prices are much lower than even just a year or two ago. They're not a bad idea, but def not a substitute for a real hard drive- which you should have as well.

thanks

I was hoping to buy the external HD, so that I don't have to do back-ups on DVDs. I'll have to learn using both now. (I don't do either yet.) I've lost info only once, about 5 years ago ...I had a 1GB Jazz Drive -- and it went bad.

correction

It can't hurt. As far as backing up information goes, what you need is dependent upon how much you need to back-up. If it's only a few megs of info here and there, a regular CDRW will cover it, plus it's re-writeable. If it's gigabytes of info that needs back-up, a DVD is good for storage. CD's and DVD's are less likely to be corrupted than a hard drive if they're kept safe.

But for now, I'd still recommend getting a hard drive- I'm just suggesting this as a plan for the near/not so distant future to keep in mind.

I just got an external HD and I love it. I keep all my media files on it ans hare it between mine and my girl-friend's PC. It stores info so fast, and it's plug & play, which always rocks. I can't remember what kind it is, I was so jazzed about it. My father was down visiting from Maine and got it for me for my birthday. We got it at Best Buy, and it wasnt' a bad deal on it.

It's USB also, btw. Don't worry about firewire unless you'll actually encounter it or have any plans to use it. If you have firewire on your computer- you likely put it there on purpose. With Dell, you have to order it specially, it doesn't come stock- however USB does. USB should be sufficient. I have my external HD for my desktop- like yours is- and it has it's own power supply and isn't powered by the USB (I haven't tried it without the power cord so I'm not sure if that's an option or not).

I don't personally know how USB compares to Firewire as far as performance, but USB managed to move about 1-2 gigs of music in about 5 mins or so, and that was more than sufficient for my needs (this is a pure estimate, mostly I know that it was fast and I wasn't paying attention to the amount of data I moved).

USB vs. Firewire? I dunno...

USB or Firewire for your external HD? Unless you have/want Firewire specifcally, then go w/ USB. It's universal and most computers have it now, so it makes porting that HD much easier.

usb/firewire

The reason I need USB and Firewire is because right now I have a Dell Diminsion 2400 that doesn't have a Firewire slot, so I can use the USB instead. But in the future I'll be buying a G5 and work with Pro Tools. In this case Firewire is better. I always thought, and have been quoted by others that Firewire is better (more powerful) than any USB. For backing up 48,000Khz/24 bit audio files (bigger than CD quality sound) Firewire is the wire to have.